Although Hilary Swank won her first of two Oscars in 2000 for Boys Don’t Cry, the first major turning point in her career came eight years earlier.

The Nebraska native was 16 at the time, and working on a television show (Camp Wilder) during the day and her very first film role by night. The movie was the Joss Whedon-penned horror comedy Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992), which later spawned the hit TV series.

With the film celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, we decided to revisit our 2014 “Role Recall” interview (watch the clip above), where Swank explained the thrill of making her feature debut.

“I was completely nervous because I didn’t want to mess up,” the actress explained. “I’d all of the sudden got this opportunity to live my dream. I was living the high life, working in the day and working in the night.”

Swank played Kimberly Hannah — one of Buffy’s snooty BFFs — and reveled in her various Valley Girl dim-witticisms, like “Oh please, that’s so five minutes ago” and “Buffy, what is your sitch?”

Now 42, Swank said she owed the film’s director, Fran Rubel Kuzui, a debt of gratitude. “It was nice to be working with a female when they’re so rare and few and far in between,” Swank said. “She started my career in movies, I guess, by hiring me on my first one.”